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Steve- thanks for the quick reply. Fortunately, one mission won't be that bad to replay (especially as I have a much better idea of the Syrian defensive deployment :>). I can't say enough how much I appreciate the continued work you and the team put it into the CM series. You'll have a Day 1 buyer here for any module coming up. Looking forward to CM British Forces and CM Normandy. Chris

Really looking forward to downloading 1.11 tonight and getting back into CMSF after several week's absence. That patch list is simply amazing! I'm particularly gratified that one of the features I (and many others :>) were arguing for was included - the ability to turn off floating icons completely. I'd held off playing "Guarding the Far Flank" in the hopes that feature would come along, and reading another poster's experiencing playing without floating icons and having it "like a movie" is exactly what I'm anticipating. OK, here's my question: I'd completed the first mission of the Marines campaign, and stopped playing at the setup round of the second mission. That was a few weeks ago. I understand there's an updated Marines campaign in the 1.11 patch. Do I have to restart the Marines campaign, or can I pick up where I left off? Also, do we know (in general) what's changed in the updated Marines campaign? Thanks! Chris

If you want a simple keycommand to switch off everything, why not also have the cinematic view. All cinematic view involves is the program automatically toggling that CTRL-U (or whatever it is) before and after each playback. Heck, even I could write a script of that complexity! Chris

Thanks Smaragdadler. I'm not on a crusade here, but nice to know I'm not completely crazy. :>

Remember too that there will be differences in Condition, Experience, Leadership skill etc. As with CMBB, veteran German troops may be Weakened Veterans with superb +2 NCOs, while Americans are Fit Green troops with +0 NCOs. That will make a real difference.

Wow, no one else thinks this would be good idea? Seriously? It seems like a relatively simple enhancement as an option. C'mon, someone else out there must enjoy a "clean playback" as much as I do! :> Chris

Amen to C3K's post. Now that the game is truly drawing folks in with 1.10, I hope and expect the # of scenarios will start climbing. Better interface would be a big plus.

Having spent significant time with 1.10 over the past week, want to again compliment the Battlefront folks. 1.10 continues to be a terrific experience, with my best moments comparing with the best from CMx1. So here's my request to make the experience even better: I love playing WEGO for the cinematic experience (and tension) of watching playback and being able to rewind and watch key moments. While the floating icons, colored bases and other visual aids are good for planning, I'd love to have a "Cinematic View" option, where they would all disappear during playback. I usually end up toggling them off before playback, but it gets old doing this every turn. This would be a simple Y/N checkbox in the Game Options screen. It would apply only to WEGO playback, and would remove all artificial overlays/icons during playback. What do others think? Would this be a welcomed option? Chris

Just starting the battle "Guarding the Flanks", and I'm impressed at the darkness of the night. The visual effects of tracers and blasts are terrific. However, it's also very hard to see anything during the planning phase! Is there a mod or a planned future feature that would enable us to see the landscape through NVG or some other assist? After all, that's what the US commanders would be seeing as they positioned their forces :> It should be a toggleable option so we can still view the great night effects during the playback. Thoughts? Chris

Completely agree! Please keep the severely wounded/dead on the list.

I posted a few days ago about the T-90 vs M1A1 FEP (look for the post on page 2 or 3). I was actually asking because I had the opposite experience - I was surprised at how effective the T-90s were in a head-to-head engagement during "USMC Bad Moon Rising". My initial try, I attempted to duplicate the tactics used in Operation Desert Storm by keeping my tanks moving steadily forwards at a steady pace (Move, not Hunt) in line abreast, thinking that I'd have superior fire on the move and superior sensors to pick up the T-90s first. That was a bad idea. Despite having all my Abrams pointed in the right directin, the T-90s still sighted me first and opened fire. In the end, I'd lost all 14 Abrams and took down 8-9 T-90s. Yes, most of my crews survived, but I still lost the tank force. So in my experience, in a head-to-head fight at medium range (1000-2000m), the T-90 came out very well indeed. Chris

Totally agree with Steiner's point, I was thinking the same thing myself. That part of the challenge (and drama!) in WEGO is placing your bets each turn and then biting your lip in the hopes that the plan comes together during that 60 seconds. Much more drama (for me) than RT, but as Steve said, "to each their own", and no reason to force one or the other. For RT, I'm particularly intrigued by the suggestion of adding command delays for RT troops. That's a great idea. If I could have RT with TiVo style replay and command delays, that would really offer the best of both worlds. Yeah yeah, I know how easy is it is to ASK for features, and how hard it can be to actually CODE them :>, but here's a vote for TiVO+Command Delays for future RT releases. Chris P.S. Of course, Command Delays should be optional, so that existing players who like quick response in RT aren't being asked to sacrifice anything to us WEGO types :>.

Unfortunately, I don't have any answers for you Gryphon, but I am going to add a question to your list... You make a good point about WWII troops not moving with SWAT-style animations of modern infantry. That got me thinking about how impressed I am with the infantry AI in 1.10. They really move and react like highly trained professionals. I was particularly impressed last night to watch a Marine team assaulting up in bounding overwatch, time their grenade toss perfectly into a trench, leap down and pause to finish off a few cowering defenders, then charge through keeping appropriate spacing and weapons boresited. So here's my question... Will we actually see a less competent infantry AI for WWII Normandy? Yes there were US Airborne, 1st Division veterans from North Africa, German Fallschirmjaeger, etc, so the elites should be highly skilled professionals as good or better than modern US troops. Yet these elite were a small minority of the WWII battlefield. Bolger made the point a few years ago that even your vanilla line battalion in the modern US Army would be considered elite in WWII terms. In other words, green citizen draftees or German conscripts in CMx2 Normandy shouldn't move with the precision and training of modern US Marines, right? Chris

Steve - Appreciate the honesty of you just coming out and say, "no, we don't do that right now." I run a medical software company and we try to take the same approach of blunt honesty with customers, but I understand the temptation to avoid saying "no" and upsetting folks. :> So if I'm understanding correctly, AI plans can be set for either offensive or defensive scenarios. It just requires that the scenario designer anticipate where the player will be attacking (as in the T-62 platoon in your example above). That's a relief, as I was concerned that all attacking missions would be against a static foe, and only when the AI was attacking would plans come into play. Now at least I'll need to keep an eye out for counterattacks, flanking moves etc as long as the scenario designer hard-coded them. Agree that nirvana will be AI plans + triggers. Falling back after X% casualties, counterattacking with reserves when Point Y is taken, etc... I'm drooling already. I know you won't be giving any details yet about CMx2 Normandy, but here's one vote to place this feature high in the priority list. The Germans in particular need the ability to execute triggers in defending the bocage. Chris

Mark - Thanks for the detailed reply. Great to hear from the scenario designer himself! :> Props to you for an excellent scenario. Along with "Al Hawl", it's the best I've played among the dozen or more I've tried so far. *** SPOILERS **** I ultimately attacked across the fields to the L, overran the trench on that side and broke into the main compound from there. Now that the scenario's over and I can see all the technicals and RPG waiting for me I had come up the main road... nice defensive plan! So you intended the scenario to be a die in place mission, ala Fallujah in 2004? Bleed the Marines white and claim victory? That makes sense. I'm curious about the reinforcements that arrived - I saw some technicals along the road to the N, but they seemed to just kind of mill around aimlessly once they'd appeared. Does the new CMSF AI allow you as a designer to thrust them towards an objective or otherwise direct their actions once they arrive? I ask because I saw similar behavior in Allah's Fist, where the reinforcing AI just seemed to sit in the deployment zones and get picked apart. Final question for you... I agree that with the addition of triggers, the AI could become a real monster. That's a good thing, and I can't wait! However, in the current version of CMSF, is there any way for a defender to respond dynamically to an attacker? Or will all my future missions in the current CMSF/CMSF Marines end up being static defenders being dismantled piece-by-piece? It makes sense given this particular scenario, but I'm concerned if that's the general experience of all attack scenarios in the future. Thanks Chris